Anthony Pacheco: Rehabilitated Hack Writer

I know about conflict. Crisis Management/Disaster Recovery essentially is, from a holistic standpoint, about conflict resolution. People, things, any risky area, you name it—I have managed it (only in my field, however, I am not a military officer).

On the other hand, my qualifications for novel writing advice are not impressive. No publishing credits are under my name, I am un-agented, and really, I have only written two books, one of which I will never show anybody.

This is why I am very careful in giving writing advice here in Hack Writerville. But I can speak about conflict in a literary sense.

Why do people fail? What do people do to cause systems to fail?

In books, just like life, bad things happen to good people. Just like life, and in books, this is a cliché. A good writer can take these circumstances and turn them into a compelling novel, one even I would like to read. As a simple plot device, it works. Just look at the thousands of fiction books using this hook!

If we are talking about a spectacular fail, however, one that hurts people to the core or causes systems to go splat in impressive ways, then look no further to a lack (and it is always a lack) of end-to-end thinking.

Ah ah ah, I bet some of you were thinking “critical thinking”. Critical thinking is a component of the end-to-end analysis, and a lack of it causes conflict, but not on the scale of the end-to-end failure scenario. Let’s go over a literary example of end-to-end thinking.

I read two of Stephen R. Donaldson’s books, after I forgave him for invoking sympathy for a rapist, filled with complex conflict.

The Mirror of Her Dreams has a very interesting character, the King. The King and his Wizard adviser are two childish malcontents. They act foolishly. They pay attention to seemingly inane things and make far-reaching decisions at apparent whims. People think they are crazy and harmless.

But they are far far from crazy. The King, you see, is an end-to-end thinker. At the end of book two, you can see how, in the shadows, he made the correct decisions because he considered all the risks (to his kingdom and subjects), and picked the best courses of action. Indeed, his ability to think many moves ahead, and keep it secret from his enemies, is, in effect, conflict. Conflict about conflict! The two books in the series alone are worth the characterization and portrayal of the King.

On the other side of the coin, is the conflict generated when the main character sees a problem on the horizon (conflict!), yet, because he did not consider all the available data and make decisions based on logic, he fails. He tried and failed. Often, this is a spectacular fail.

How do we know? Because that’s what happens in real life!

Being in the wrong place at the wrong time is conflict. Being in an accident is conflict. Anticipating a looming disaster, either personal or in a more visceral definition, is conflict, just as trying to prevent it is even more conflict. Gibbors me mohr conflicts! Nom!

If we bump it up a notch (BAM!), trying to prevent the disaster, and failing, is sticking the conflict amplifier on eleven. And trying again and succeeding because of the ‘learn from mistakes’ cycle (Motivation! Conflict!), is pure satisfying goodness, both in a novel and in the real world.

Now I know what you are thinking, You’re thinking what I outlined is “life” and what does that have to do with end-to-end thinking, anyway? And this is where I look at you, dear 8.3 readers, over my glasses sitting at the end of my nose, and say:

“Isn’t ‘that’s life’ weasel-speak for ‘I’ve royally screwed the pooch’?

For a failure to consider ramifications end-to-end is symptomatic of living in the dream world. The world that one wants, rather the world as it is. When reality intrudes on wishful thinking, logic, rather than mere gravity, is the ultimate harsh mistress.

And for a all-to-real example of that, tune in to my next blog post!